Closing tonight - Sandy Koufax Memorabilia Collection at Auction

Topnotchsy · #1 08-26-2025, 10:33 AM

How do you feel about the way things ended.

I thought the perfect game lineup sold well, but was surprised at how low the others went (except for maybe one of them).

My lineup cards generally did shockingly poorly outside of the Ripken 3000th which did ok, albeit below estimates.

rlevy · #2 08-26-2025, 03:12 PM

Jeff, auctions are so unpredictable, especially with one-of-a-kind items. I do think the items had good exposure in the catalogs and online. But I did think they were all going to be displayed at the National, but apparently not all of my items were there. That may have been a factor, but who knows.

I was a little wary about putting 15 Koufax items in one auction with individual 30 minute closings, since collectors have to pick which items to go after and can't circle back to items once they are closed. That may have happened with the lineup cards, which were among the first to close. I also know one collector on the east coast who fell asleep and missed getting in bids on several items and was kicking himself Monday morning for missing out.

The puzzler for me is I see that a 1965 WS game 1 stub, which he famously sat out for Yom Kippur, signed by Koufax, went for over $10,000 My 1965 WS game 7 lineup cards, where he actually played and pitched his second shutout in 3 days, signed by Koufax, went for only $3,900. While not logical to me, I think it just depends on what collectors find they like at the moment.

Rick

perezfan · #3 08-27-2025, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rlevy

Jeff, auctions are so unpredictable, especially with one-of-a-kind items. I do think the items had good exposure in the catalogs and online. But I did think they were all going to be displayed at the National, but apparently not all of my items were there. That may have been a factor, but who knows.

I was a little wary about putting 15 Koufax items in one auction with individual 30 minute closings, since collectors have to pick which items to go after and can't circle back to items once they are closed. That may have happened with the lineup cards, which were among the first to close. I also know one collector on the east coast who fell asleep and missed getting in bids on several items and was kicking himself Monday morning for missing out.

The puzzler for me is I see that a 1965 WS game 1 stub, which he famously sat out for Yom Kippur, signed by Koufax, went for over $10,000 My 1965 WS game 7 lineup cards, where he actually played and pitched his second shutout in 3 days, signed by Koufax, went for only $3,900. While not logical to me, I think it just depends on what collectors find they like at the moment.

Rick

Regarding the first part in bold... I also believe that was a factor. With so many unique Koufax items all closing at once, the pool of advanced Koufax collectors was taxed to the limit in a confined setting.
People love to bitch and moan about late-night auction closings, but the ability to jump form lot to lot (without anything closing prematurely) really serves to benefit the consignor.

Regarding the second part in bold... I've learned to never apply "logic" to these auctions. There are just too many sales that defy logic (both negative and positive). Bidders are fickle, and it often just depends upon who sees it and the mood of who's bidding at the end.

Hopefully you are still happy with the overall total realized... those were some unique killer items!

premiercardcollectors · #4 08-27-2025, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rlevy

Jeff, auctions are so unpredictable, especially with one-of-a-kind items. I do think the items had good exposure in the catalogs and online. But I did think they were all going to be displayed at the National, but apparently not all of my items were there. That may have been a factor, but who knows.

I was a little wary about putting 15 Koufax items in one auction with individual 30 minute closings, since collectors have to pick which items to go after and can't circle back to items once they are closed. That may have happened with the lineup cards, which were among the first to close. I also know one collector on the east coast who fell asleep and missed getting in bids on several items and was kicking himself Monday morning for missing out.

The puzzler for me is I see that a 1965 WS game 1 stub, which he famously sat out for Yom Kippur, signed by Koufax, went for over $10,000 My 1965 WS game 7 lineup cards, where he actually played and pitched his second shutout in 3 days, signed by Koufax, went for only $3,900. While not logical to me, I think it just depends on what collectors find they like at the moment.

Rick

What a wonderful collection and I�m sure was tough to let it go. I was an active bidder on several of your items but others had more means than me to win them.

I can say that as an avid collector of Jewish sports, the Yom Kippur game was something that was a source of pride for all Jews and really propelled Sandy to Hero status in the Jewish community. I remember as a kid anytime I would complain about the holiday restrictions or fasting etc, my Dad (who is from Brooklyn) would always say � �Sandy Koufax gave up the opportunity to play on Yom Kippur in the World Series so you can not watch TV�. lol.

Anyway, that ticket has meaning beyond the game. Congratulations. All of your items exceeded my expectations.

Best

Geoff

Geoff Bedine
Premier Card Collectors
Since 1977

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Jewish-collector · #5 08-27-2025, 03:30 PM

Many of the Jewish baseball memorabilia collectors that I know are not high end collectors. In any case, it was fun watching these incredible Koufax items in the auction.

Topnotchsy · #6 08-27-2025, 08:08 PM

At any other time I would have won at least one of the Koufax WS lineup cards, but the timing didn't work for me given how poorly my auctions did.

rlevy · #7 08-28-2025, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by perezfan

Hopefully you are still happy with the overall total realized... those were some unique killer items!

Mark, yes, I am fine with the overall results. I was fortunate to have acquired many of these items many moons ago, and I was willing to let the market decide their value. Hence, low opening bids with no reserves.

Quote:

Originally Posted by premiercardcollectors

.

I can say that as an avid collector of Jewish sports, the Yom Kippur game was something that was a source of pride for all Jews and really propelled Sandy to Hero status in the Jewish community. I remember as a kid anytime I would complain about the holiday restrictions or fasting etc, my Dad (who is from Brooklyn) would always say � �Sandy Koufax gave up the opportunity to play on Yom Kippur in the World Series so you can not watch TV�. lol.

Anyway, that ticket has meaning beyond the game. Congratulations. All of your items exceeded my expectations.

Best

Geoff

Geoff, I agree that the ticket does have special meaning. As a Jewish 12 year-old Bleed Dodger Blue fan, I can guarantee you my first reaction to hearing Sandy was sitting out game 1 wasn't "Wow, that's great", but rather "Oh NO!". The significance didn't really hit me until much later in life. But a major part of that whole experience is that Sandy came back and pitched consecutive shut-outs in games 5 and 7 (game 7 was on 2 days rest, and he had no curveball that day). Sandy was visibly relieved after game 7 because he didn't want his sitting out game 1 to be the focus of attention, which it would have been if the Dodgers hadn't won that series. His ability to preform the way he did, while still preserving his values, is what makes him special to many of us. So when I pointed to the Game 7 line-up cards on the wall, I could say that these were from the series where Sandy sat out the first game for Yom Kippur (which everyone always remembered), then pitched a shutout in this game on 2 days rest to win the series for the Dodgers. I just don't know if it would be as well remembered by everyone if the Dodgers lost that series. Luckily, we will never know.

Rick

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Sandy Koufax?	ahs430	Autograph Forum- Primarily Sports	11	03-21-2023 02:33 PM
Babe Ruth Game Used Bat, Sandy Koufax Game Used Glove Headline Auction	GottaHaveRockandRoll	Net54baseball Sports (Primarily) Vintage Memorabilia Forum incl. Game Used	13	03-27-2022 02:53 PM
Sandy Koufax Collector/Collection	Kent G	Postwar Baseball Cards Forum (Pre-1980)	21	02-27-2020 12:49 AM
Safe Haven auction Sandy Koufax auto	robkas68	Live Auctions - Only 2-3 open, per member, at once.	8	12-17-2019 04:57 AM
Barry Halper Collection of Vintage Baseball Memorabilia - Auction Catalog	Jewish-collector	Ebay, Auction and other Venues Announcement- B/S/T	1	04-05-2012 09:47 AM